The present invention relates to a system for securing a suture to a needle in a swaged fashion and more particularly pertains to allowing a suture to be easily secured and crimped within an open end of a suture needle so that the suture extends longitudinally from the needle.
Sutures are typically attached to a needle in either swaged or eyed fashions. Eyed needles must be threaded, a time-consuming procedure for a scrub person. This presents the disadvantage of having to pull a double strand of suture material through tissue, creating a larger hole, presenting additional resistance, and resulting in additional tissue disruption and trauma. It is a primary consideration when selecting a surgical needle that the  tissue being sutured should be altered as little as possible by the needle since the only purpose of the needle is to introduce the suture into the tissue. Certain delicate tissue, such as eye tissue, is extremely subject to trauma, making the double strand highly undesirable. A further danger is presented in ‘eyed’ sutures, in that the suture may become unthreaded while the surgeon is using it.
Swaged needles seek to employ a nearly continuous, longitudinal connection between the suture and needle, such that the suture is, for all intents and purposes, a trailing continuation of the needle. This configuration joins the needle and suture together as a continuous unit—one that is convenient to use and minimizes trauma. In this arrangement, the suture is placed into a hole drilled into the needle end. The suture is usually secured within these holes. One problem with this arrangement is knowing whether the suture has been sufficiently secured within the hole, so that it does not “break free” during suturing.
Currently, swaged needles are available pre-packaged with sutures already joined thereto. Both needles and sutures, however, are available in several different sizes and types. In commercially available pre-sutured swaged needles, each needle is already matched with a suture. This arrangement often requires the surgeon to either compromise on the ideal needle or suture he/she would prefer to use. Ideally, the surgeon should be the  one to match the suture to the needle for the given application. On the other hand, producing every combination of suture and needle in a pre-paired fashion is not commercially viable from a manufacturing standpoint, and would require medical institutions to stock an unreasonably large variety of needle-suture pairs.
Further, pre-swaged needles are disproportionally expensive compared to the cost of swaged needles and bulk sutures available on a spool. Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide a system which allows the surgeon to select a swaged needle and easily mate a suitable length of the desired suture thereto.
The present invention attempts to solve the above-mentioned problem by providing a crimping block which allows a swaged end suture needle to be mated with any chosen suture.
The use of surgical devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, surgical devices heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of facilitating surgical procedures are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,429 to Pierce discloses a suture needle capable of applying a suture by retracting the sheath and applying tension. U.S. Pat. No.  5,234,438 to Semrad discloses means for feeding a suture through a needle for use in a tunneling procedure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,729 to de la Torres discloses a device for loading a needle with a length of suture. U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,199 to Mers Kelly discloses an additional suture device.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objective and requirements, they are not as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as described hereinafter. 